Coronavirus COVID-19 Impact
| There is no doubt that COVID-19 is having a devastating impact on volumes of bookings in the travel industry. Airlines are cutting their schedules and asking staff to take unpaid leave as a result of cancellations, restrictions and the fall in demand. A number of airlines have closed their doors, and over 250 have suspended all operations although there are some that have re-started operations. | Others such as Korean Air, already facing difficulties have written to staff to set expectations that the situation is grave. Volumes have recovered over time so T2RL have made the decision to track the top 50 airlines which currently account for 62% of the global passengers boarded (Adjusted) as an indicator for of the impact of COVID-19. |
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Traffic Impact
US Impact
Europe Impact
Ceased and Suspended
Airline Impact
Vendor Impact
Passenger Volumes
2020 Headlines
| 31/12/2020 | As of 31st December 2020, more than 82 million confirmed Covid-19 cases have been reported globally. Many regions are still reporting surging numbers of new infections as part of a second and in some cases a third wave of the pandemic.18.6 million new cases were reported in December globally and 51 countries reported their highest number of cases during the last month of the year. |
| 29/12/2020 | The United Kingdom has recorded more than 41 thousand Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours creating a new daily record as a rapidly spreading variant of the coronavirus increases infection rates and the holiday weekend had an impact on the reporting of some new cases. |
| 27/12/2020 | More than 80 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported worldwide since the pandemic began a year ago. Last week, an average of 580,000 new cases were registered every day. |
| 24/12/2020 | 17 countries globally have now reported more than 1 million Covid-19 cases. The most recent countries added to this list are Peru (the 5th Latin American country to surpass 1 million cases) and Ukraine. Worldwide Covid-19 infections have reached 79 milion and the death toll is 1.73 million deaths have been reported. |
| 22/12/2020 | More than 40 countries around the world have closed their borders to travellers from the United Kingdom after detection of a new strain of Covid-19 which has spread quickly in London and south-east England. The new variant is believed to be up to 70% more infections than existing strains, but health officials say there is no evidence that it is more deadly or would react differently to vaccines. |
| 21/12/2020 | According to India's DGCA, in November all Indian carriers transported 6.4 million domestic passengers - a 50.9% decline from the same period last year. India has now exceeded 10 million reported Covid-19 infections, however the pace of infections has slowed down from 98,000 daily cases reported in mid-September to an average of 30,000 daily infections reported in December. |
| 18/12/2020 | Worldwide covid-19 infections have reached 75 million with 20 million each in Europe, North America and Asia. USA is reporting up to 250,00 cases per day and growing with over 3000 deaths per day. Europe’s 2nd wave continues to grow now being more severe than the first wave, despite strict lockdowns in in many nations. France confirms President Macron has contracted the virus himself. |
| 16/12/2020 | According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, in November all Chinese carriers transported 44.4 million passengers, a 16% drop from the same period last year. Chinese carriers traffic decline in November was higher than the 12% decline reported for October and September. |
| 15/12/2020 | From 15th December, passengers arriving into England will have the option to take a Covid-19 test 5 days after leaving a country not on the travel corridors list, as part of the government’s new “Test to Release” scheme which could shorten their period of self-isolation if the result is negative. From 16th December the UK government has also imposed a Tier 3 lockdown in London, the south of Hertfordshire and much of Essex. For 5 days over the Christmas period from 23rd - 27th December, there will be a UK-wide relaxation of rules. |
| 14/12/2020 | Germany will go into a national lockdown from 16th December and continuing through the Christmas period until 10th January. Under the new measures all schools, non-essential shops and services across the country will be closed. The number of people allowed to meet indoors will remain restricted to five from two households. The new measures build on restrictions already in place under a partial lockdown. Germany has now reported over 1.3 million Covid-19 cases, the 12th highest number of cases globally. |
| 14/12/2020 | 72 million Covid-19 cases and 1.6 million deaths have been reported globally, with 5 million new cases reported over the last week. The death toll in the United States (300,000) is almost a fifth of the global total and the country has now reported 16.5 million Covid-19 cases. |
| 07/12/2020 | Covid-19 cases globally have surpassed 67 million and 1.5 million deaths have been reported. 14 countries have surpassed 1 million cases, with Poland and Iran added to the list last week. The three worst hit countries - USA, India and Brazil account for 46% of global cases. |
| 03/12/2020 | The United States set two new records with more than 200,000 Covid-19 cases reported nationwide yesterday, and 100,000 patients hospitalized due to the virus. The U.S. has reported a total of 14.3 million Covid-19 cases and almost 280,000 deaths. |
| 01/12/2020 | India's Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola reported domestic passenger traffic in India has recovered to approximately 65% of pre-covid levels and expects further recovery of 80%-90% of pre-pandemic levels within the next three months. |
| 30/11/2020 | Canada has once again extended existing international travel restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19, barring entry to most travellers who are not Canadian citizens, permanent residents or people entering from the U.S. for essential reasons until January 21, 2021. |
| 28/11/2020 | Germany has become the 12th country globally to surpass 1 million Covid-19 cases. Despite the high number of cases, Germany has seen fewer deaths in comparison to many other European countries like as Britain, Italy and France. Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced the country will have to live with the current restrictions imposed early November, until at least 20th December. |
| 26/11/2020 | The U.S. Transportation Security Administration screened more than 5 million travelers in the week leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The period beginning Friday was the busiest stretch for passenger traffic at U.S. airports since the onset of the pandemic. However, Friday’s travel numbers were still roughly half of the 2.5 million passengers screened by the TSA on the same day in 2019. |
| 25/11/2020 | Covid-19 has infected more than 60 million people globally and over 1.4 million deaths have been reported. Daily cases have reached new records, with more than 600,000 new cases reported in the last 24 hours globally. |
| 24/11/2020 | In a welcome move for airlines the UK will reduce it’s quarantine restriction for incoming travellers from 12 to 5 days from 15th December. Called ‘Test and Release’ passengers will need to take a Covid-19 test on their 5th day after arrival and as long as the result is negative their quarantine can end. UK’s 2nd wave is easing and vaccination programme is expected to start in December. |
| 20/11/2020 | The number of cases in Russia have surpassed 2 million with close to 24 thousand new cases and 463 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. Russia is now the fifth country globally with the maximum number of cases reported, after the U.S., Brazil, India and France. |
| 16/11/2020 | Mexico is the 11th country globally to report 1 million Covid-19 cases as their death toll nears 100,000. Mexico has reported the fourth-highest number of deaths from Covid-19 in the world, after India, Brazil and the U.S. |
| 13/11/2020 | Italy is the 10th country to report 1 million Covid-19 cases. The country was the first in Europe to be hit by the outbreak earlier this year, and cases have been on the rise again in recent weeks with almost 38,000 new infections reported in the last 24 hours. |
| 13/11/2020 | Globally Covid-19 cases have surpassed 53 million and 1.3 million deaths have been reported. The number of cases in the United States are approaching 11 million with more than 160,000 new daily cases reported yesterday. Hospitalizations in the country for Covid-19 have also set a new record, climbing to more than 67,000. |
| 11/11/2020 | The three global airline alliances Oneworld, Skyteam and Star Alliance have joined forces to call on international governments to act quickly in adopting common protocols against Covid-19 with the goal of reopening borders. Specifically, passenger testing protocols and the adoption of the technology necessary for air travel to resume safely. |
| 10/11/2020 | Russia’s Transport Ministry has improved its forecast for Russian airlines’ overall passenger traffic decline in 2020 to 45%, indicating around 70 million passengers. The ministry earlier projected that domestic airlines’ passenger traffic will decrease by 53% to 60 million passengers in 2020. |
| 10/11/2020 | US based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech announced that their Covid-19 vaccine is 90% effective, based on preliminary data from trials. This is one of more than 40 candidate vaccines, but no other has yet made similar claims about its effectiveness. The companies said they could pass the final hurdles for a US rollout later this month, and could supply up to 50 million doses globally in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021. |
| 08/11/2020 | Worldwide cases of Covid-19 has now infected 50 million people worldwide, with 1,257,000 deaths with fairly equal shares in Europe, North America, South America and Asia. France and USA are currently suffering the highest numbers of new daily cases. Africa and Ocenania have still not been badly affected in general. |
| 05/11/2020 | British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has enforced an England-wide lockdown from today as the number of daily Covid-19 cases and the death toll has hit their worst levels since May. The new restrictions will see restaurants, bars and all non-essential businesses close until 2nd December 2020. The UK has reported over 1 million coronavirus cases, 25 thousand new daily cases and 47 thousand deaths. |
| 05/11/2020 | The United States has reported over 100,000 new coronavirus cases in a single day on 4th November 2020 for the first time since the pandemic began. The total number of cases in the U.S. has surpassed 9.8 million and more than 239 thousand deaths have been reported. |
| 02/11/2020 | According to Worldometer, Covid-19 cases have now reached 10 million in Europe, 11 million in North America, 13 million in Asia and close to 10 million in South America. Europe is now experiencing a strong second wave with over 200,000 new cases per day, compared to less than 100,000 in all other continents. In Europe there have been between 3000 (Finland) and 38,000 (Belgium) cases per million population. USA has 28,000 cases per million, Canada 6,000. Belgium is the first significant country to record over 1000 deaths per million. |
| 30/10/2020 | Globally Covid-19 cases have surpassed 45 million with over 500,000 daily cases now being reported. The U.S. has reported 9.2 million cases with more than 90,000 new cases yesterday. The number of infections in India have surpassed 8 million, followed by Brazil with 5.5 million. |
| 27/10/2020 | India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation has increased the number of domestic flights countrywide to 56% of pre-Covid-19 levels. Scheduled international flights are still suspended however demand for international flights is expected to increase after the Ministry of Home Affairs permitted foreign nationals to visit India for any purpose, except tourism last week |
| 26/10/2020 | Colombia is the 8th country to surpass 1 million reported Covid-19 cases, after US, India, Brazil, Russia, Argentina, Spain and France. Spain became the first EU nation to surpass 1 million infections last week and France has reported the second highest daily cases globally after the U.S. with +52,000 new cases yesterday. |
| 23/10/2020 | European low-cost carriers have further scaled back flight operations in recent weeks due to the second wave of Covid-19 across the continent and the associated ongoing travel restrictions and quarantine requirements. Low-cost carriers that have cut their schedules again include Eurowings, Ryanair, EasyJet, Vueling and Wizz Air. |
| 19/10/2020 | Covid-19 cases reported worldwide have surpassed the 40 million mark, just one month after passing 30 million. More than 1.1 million confirmed virus deaths have been reported. The majority of new cases come from just five countries: Brazil, France, India, the UK and US. |
| 16/10/2020 | The number of daily Covid-19 cases reported globally are approaching 400,000 a day. For the first time since late July, the number of new daily cases in the United States surpassed 65,000 yesterday, exceeding India for the first time in several weeks. |
| 15/10/2020 | According to the CAAC, in September all Chinese carriers transported 47.9 million passengers, a 12.5% drop from the same period last year. China’s domestic traffic was down only 2% compared to last year. |
| 15/10/2020 | London moves into Tier 2 lockdown with new restrictions banning the capital’s 9 million residents from meeting other households in their homes or other indoor spaces, to be imposed from midnight on Friday. Essex and Elmbridge, York, Chesterfield, Barrow-in-Furness, North-east Derbyshire and Erewash will also move into Tier 2 lockdown alongside London. The U.K. has reported the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases, with close to 20 thousand new cases reported in the country yesterday. |
| 13/10/2020 | U.S. TSA screened 984,354 individuals at airport checkpoints nationwide on 11th October 2020, the highest since 14th April 2020 when only 87,534 people were screened. This is the third time in 4 days that passenger volumes exceeded 900,000. |
| 13/10/2020 | Australian Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham warned that Australians won't be able to travel to the U.S. or Europe until 2022 due to the the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the U.S and many European countries. The first stage of Australias travel bubble with New Zealand will start this week, when Kiwis will be able to visit New South Wales and the Northern Territory without having to undergo 14-day hotel quarantine. |
| 12/10/2020 | Globally the number of Covid-19 cases reported are approaching 38 million. The number of cases reported in the U.S. are nearing 8 million with over 40 thousand new daily cases reported yesterday. Many U.S. states are seeing increases in new cases, with five U.S. states reporting a jump of more than 50% in one week. |
| 09/10/2020 | According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, during the 2020 National Day holiday (1st - 8th October), Chinese airlines transported 13.26 million passengers, and the average daily passenger traffic returned to 91.07% of the 2019 National Day holiday. The number of flights nationwide was 117,327, and the average daily flight volume recovered to 89.7% of the 2019 National Day holiday. |
| 08/10/2020 | France reported an all time high record of daily cases with 18,746 new confirmed Covid-19 cases over the last 24 hours, almost double of the previous days tally of 10,489. The French government has put in place restrictions all over the country to contain the second wave of the virus. |
| 08/10/2020 | Confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Brazil have passed 5 million, with deaths in the country approaching 150,000. Brazil has the highest number of deaths in Latin America and the state of São Paulo has been the worst hit, with around 36,000 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with about 19,000. |
| 06/10/2020 | Chinese National Day is celebrated on 1st October every year to commemorate the founding of People’s Republic of China, and the 7-day holiday period from 1st to 7th October is called the Golden week, during which many people travel around the country. China’s domestic air passengers from 1st to 4th October 2020 decreased 9.5% year-on-year to 6.48 million and the number of flights nationwide decreased 8.8% to 58,608. |
| 05/10/2020 | According to India’s Minister of Civil Aviation, international flights from India are expected to be fully operational by Q1 2021. India has extended the ban on regular, scheduled international air travel until 31st October and currently has air bubble agreements with 16 countries, with a few more under negotiation. |
| 05/10/2020 | Globally Covid-19 cases have surpassed 35 milion with 12 countries reporting over half a million cases each. The U.S. has crossed 7.6 million cases, followed by India with 6.6 million, Brazil approaching 4.9 million and Russia with 1.2 million cases. Colombia, Peru and Spain have surpassed 800 thousand cases each, Argentina and Mexcio with over 700 thousand cases each, South Africa and France 600 thousand cases each and the United Kingdom which has just crossed half a million cases. |
| 02/10/2020 | United Airlines and American Airlines have sent furlough notices to a total of more than 32,000 employees, saying they can't afford to have them on payroll after 1st October – the expiration date for the federal CARES Act Payroll Support Program. Southwest has no currrent plans for furloughs and nearly 27% of its workforce volunteered for cost-cutting programs earlier this year. Delta is in a similar position and can avoid furloughs due to a number of cost-saving measures implemented. |
| 01/10/2020 | Chinese carriers are expected to operate close to 15 thousand flights and transport 1.67 million passengers on 1st October 2020, the same as on 1st October 2019. The average passenger load factor for Chinese carriers is almost 80%, a year-on-year decrease of 5%. |
| 01/10/2020 | According to the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), upto 46 million jobs in the aviation industry are at risk due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Aviation and tourism supports 87.7 million jobs worldwide including over 11 million people employed at airlines, airports, civil aerospace manufacturers and air traffic management. Direct aviation jobs are expected to fall by 4.8 million, a 43% reduction compared with pre-Covid situation. |
| 30/09/2020 | Globally Covid-19 cases reported are approaching 34 million with more than 1 million deaths. 25 million people are reported to have recovered and 7.7 million people are currently infected. |
| 28/09/2020 | India has now reported 6 million Covid-19 cases and 95,000 deaths. It took 12 days for India’s caseload to go from 5 million to 6 million, a day more than the previous 1 million rise. Recoveries from the virus crossed 5 million, accounting for 82% of all cases. Despite a slight slowdown in the spread of infections over the last 10 days or so, India continues to add the highest number of daily cases in the world. |
| 26/09/2020 | European low-cost airlines have been offering discounted fares for the September to December period in an attempt to attract back travellers and fill the planes that are still flying. According to ForwardKeys, airlines reduced fares from the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands to destinations in southern Europe by 15% in August compared with the same period last year. |
| 25/09/2020 | Globally 1 million new Covid-19 cases have been reported over the past 3 days and the number of deaths are approaching 1 million. In Europe, the number of new daily cases are rising in France, Spain and the UK which has forced governments to re-introduce tough restrictions. |
| 23/09/2020 | Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set out new restrictions for England which include: All pubs, bars and restaurants restricted to table service only and have a curfew of 10pm; Penalties for not wearing a mask or gathering in groups of more than six will increase to £200; Office workers are being told to work from home again if possible; The planned return of spectators to sports venues will be postponed further. |
| 22/09/2020 | Globally Covid-19 cases are approaching 31.5 million, with almost 970,000 deaths. The U.S. has surpassed 7 million cases, India 5.5 million cases, Brazil 4.5 million cases and Russia 1.1 million cases. Peru, Colombia and Mexico have now all surpassed 700,000 cases. |
| 21/09/2020 | The number of Covid-19 cases in the United Kingdom are rising and the country currently has the 5th highest death rate globally. The government’s scientists have warned that if the current trend in rising cases continued, and no action was taken, the country could expect to see almost 50,000 new cases per day in mid-October. |
| 18/09/2020 | Eurocontrol forecasts European air traffic will remain almost 60% down on 2019 by the end of this year. Eurocontrol director general Eamonn Brennan said “We’re going backwards. It’s worrying for the entire industry.” He also that the situation could improve if there was more coordination between states on how best to handle air travel through harmonised testing and common epidemiological assessment criteria. |
| 17/09/2020 | Globally Covid-19 have surpassed 30 million, with over 300,000 new daily cases reported yesterday. The U.S. is approaching 7 million cases, India has crossed 5 million cases and Brazil has reported 4.4 million cases. |
| 16/09/2020 | The Thai government has approved long-term tourist visas to allow in foreign tourists who agree to a 14-day quarantine period and stay in the country for at least 90 days, to help the economy. Long-stay visitors would have to present proof of payment for their long stay in Thailand. The target is to welcome 100-300 visitors a week, or up to 1200 people a month, and generate income of about 1 billion baht a month. |
| 15/09/2020 | According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Chinese carriers transported 45.5 million passengers in August 2020 - nearly three quarters of the same month last year. China’s domestic market accelerated this recovery, with the highest number of monthly domestic passengers since January 2020. China’s international passenger volumes continue to be low with a 97% decrease compared to August 2019. |
| 15/09/2020 | Aviation recovery in Europe is stalling as travel restrictions have triggered a slump in demand. Recovery was seen in July and August, but there are signs of stalling as of mid-September. Low-cost carriers including EasyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air have cut their capacity significantly. |
| 14/09/2020 | The UK government has imposed restrictions banning social gatherings of more than six people, following a rise in Covid-19 cases. This replaces the existing ban on gatherings of more than 30 people and the current guidance on allowing two households to meet indoors. Under the new rules, larger gatherings are still allowed at gyms, schools, places of worship, weddings and funerals. |
| 14/09/2020 | Globally Covid-19 cases have surpassed 29 million, with 1.5 milion new cases reported over the past week. The death toll in the U.S is expected to surpass 200,000 this week, and total reported cases in the U.S. have now reached 6.7 million. |
| 12/09/2020 | The U.S. government has decided to end enhanced health screenings for some international travelers from certain countries, and those travelers will no longer be funneled through the 15 large U.S. airports. The health agency said that of the 675,000 travelers who went through the process, fewer than 15 were found to have Covid-19 because of the extra screening. |
| 09/09/2020 | India reported 96 thousand daily cases yesterday, taking the country closer to the 100,000 daily cases benchmark that no other country in the world has ever come close to crossing. India has reported 4.47 million Covid-19 cases, second only to the United States's 6.5 million cases. The daily number of cases reported in the U.S. was 35 thousand yesterday. |
| 08/09/2020 | Globally Covid-19 cases have surpassed 27.5 million with almost 900,000 deaths. 19.5 million people are reported to have recovered and over 7 million currently infected patients. |
| 08/09/2020 | Malaysia has announced a ban on entry from visitors of 23 countries that have recorded more than 150,000 Covid-19 cases. These countries are the United States, Brazil, India, Russia, Peru, Colombia, South Africa, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Iran, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, France, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Iraq, Philippines, and Indonesia. |
| 06/09/2020 | The European Commission has put forward a proposal to EU member states that would harmonize and coordinate travel throughout the EU. They have suggested using a common color-coded system, based solely on risk and transparency levels, that would make one clear set of entry rules for travelers. |
| 04/09/2020 | China is leading the recovery of the aviation industry as their domestic flight market has reached 86% in August 2020 compared to August 2019. With the start of the new school year in September, the growth rate of China's aviation industry is expected to expand further. |
| 03/09/2020 | Globally Covid-19 cases have surpassed 26 million and deaths have exceed 860,000. The number of cases reported in Brazil has now reached the 4 million mark. However, the number of daily reported cases in Brazil is half of India ‘s daily cases which has exceeded 80 thousand, hence India is likely to take over Brazil as the 2nd worst hit country globally by the number cases reported. |
| 02/09/2020 | Russia has become the fourth country in the world to surpass 1 million Covid-19 cases. However the number of virus-related deaths in Russia is considerably lower than many other countries. Russia has now lifted most lockdown restrictions in the majority of the country's regions. |
| 01/09/2020 | Hungary has become the first Schengen country to reclose their borders to foreigners from 1st September for atleast 1 month. The reason behind this move is that most of the newly confirmed Covid-19 cases in Hungary have originated from foreign countries. |
| 31/08/2020 | India’s Covid-19 cases has surpassed 3.62 million and the country has hit a global record with the highest number of daily cases of over 78,000 for two consecutive days. This comes a day before the 4th phase of relaxation (Unlock 4.0) kicks in, which includes the resumption of metro train services. The ban on scheduled international flights is extended untill 30th September and India is currently operating special international flights under the Vande Bharat Mission and under air bubble pacts established with countries like US, Germany, Dubai, UK, Canada and France. |
| 28/08/2020 | More than 75,000 employees of U.S. based airlines are anxiously bracing for 1st October when U.S. carriers are likely to lay off employees following the expiration of relief provided by the CARES Act. U.S. airlines have already warned a tenth of their workforce that their jobs are at risk. |
| 28/08/2020 | According to ForwardKeys, domestic air travel in China will reach a full recovery by the start of September 2020. Their forecast is based on the pandemic now being under control in China, domestic seat capacity set to grow in the last week of August, students travelling ahead of the start of term in September and aggressive price promotions that have stimulated demand. |
| 26/08/2020 | As of 26th August 2020 T2RL records - 240 airlines have restarted their operations, 119 airlines are still suspended and 20 airlines have ceased operations permanently. Many carriers that have restarted operations have resumed domestic flights only. |
| 25/08/2020 | Globally Covid-19 cases have surpassed 24 million, with half a million new cases reported over the past 48 hours. More than 50% of all cases globally have been reported in the United States, Brazil and India. |
| 24/08/2020 | Covid-19 has now infected more than 23.5 million people globally with over 810,000 deaths. The U.S. has 5.8 million cases and Brazil has 3.6 million cases, although the number of daily reported cases in both countries has dropped. India has now reported 3 million cases and the number of daily cases reported is currently the highest in the world. |
| 21/08/2020 | Latin America region has now reported more than 250,000 deaths from Covid-19, with over 3000 deaths reported daily over the past week. Although Brazil is the worst affected country in the region with 3.5 million cases reported, Peru, Mexico, Colombia and Chile are all amongst the 10 worst affected countries by number of cases reported globally. |
| 20/08/2020 | India has reported close to 70,000 new cases over the past 24 hours and total cases in the country have now crossed 2.8 million. More than 800,000 samples were tested for Covid-19 for a second consecutive day in a row according to the health ministry. |
| 19/08/2020 | The United States and China have agreed to double the number of airline flights that each other’s carriers can operate between the countries, from four to eight per week. This deal marks a further easing of a standoff between the world’s two biggest economies over travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic. |
| 18/08/2020 | Global Covid-19 cases have surpassed 22 million with more than 775,000 deaths. 14.7 million people have recovered and 6.5 million people are currently infected. |
| 15/08/2020 | The governments of Canada, United States and Mexico have agreed to extend the border closure to all non-essential travel for at least another month until 21st September. These border restrictions were first introduced in March aimed at controlling the coronavirus pandemic and have been renewed monthly. |
| 14/08/2020 | Britain is imposing a 14-day quarantine on all arrivals from France, Netherlands, Malta, Monaco, Turks & Caicos & Aruba from Saturday 15th August. The country had initially imposed a blanket quarantine on all travellers arriving in the country, but later altered the rules and carved out travel corridors that exempt travellers arriving from certain countries from having to self-isolate. |
| 14/08/2020 | Global Covid-19 cases have surpassed 21 million with over 750,000 deaths. The U.S. has now reported over 5.4 million cases followed by Brazil with 3.2 million cases and India with 2.4 million cases. |
| 12/08/2020 | Consumer rights organisation "Which?" has seen evidence that Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic and TUI are reneging on promises made to the CAA by failing to refund passengers in agreed time frames, breaching recent commitments on how they would improve their reimbursement processes. The findings come after the CAA reviewed airlines’ behaviour and identified several carriers that weren’t paying refunds quickly enough, with some passengers who have been left out of pocket since March. |
| 11/08/2020 | New Zealand has announced its first locally transmitted Covid-19 infections after 102 days. Four cases have been detected in a single family in Auckland from an unknown source. New Zealand Prime minister has issued a stay-at-home lockdown in Auckland for 3 days. |
| 10/08/2020 | Globally 20 million Covid-19 cases have now been reported, with an increase of almost 2 million cases in 1 week. The number of deaths in Brazil have surpassed 100,000 and India’s daily reported cases have now exceeded the United States, making it the country with the highest number of daily infections. |
| 07/08/2020 | The US State Department has lifted the Level 4 ‘do not travel’ advisory in the US which was first implemented on 19th March, instead returning to country specific travel bans. Most of Europe, Africa and Asia have been downgraded to a Level 3 ban, which encourages Americans to “reconsider travel”, while New Zealand is now listed at a Level 2, for “exercise caution”. India and China still have the Level 4 travel ban according to the US State Department website. |
| 07/08/2020 | Global Covid-19 cases have surpassed 19 million with over 712,000 deaths. The increase is driven by surges in Latin America, India and a new milestone in Africa as the continent hit 1 million cases. Cases in the U.S. have surpassed 5 million and in Brazil nearing 3 million. 40% of all cases globally have been recorded in the U.S. and Brazil. |
| 06/08/2020 | U.S. Covid-19 cases have surpassed 4.81 million and deaths exceed 157,000. The US reported its biggest one-day jump with 1401 deaths in a week although new cases have dropped by 5%. The hardest-hit state California recorded 528,167 cases, followed by Florida with 502,739, Texas with 474,420 and New York with 418,225. States with over 180,000 cases include Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey and Arizona. |
| 06/08/2020 | India's Covid-19 cases are nearing 2 million with over 56,000 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. However the recovery rate in India has improved from 63% to 67% in the last 14 days. This has reduced the number of active cases which are now just over 30% of the total Covid-19 cases |
| 03/08/2020 | The number of Covid-19 cases reported globally have passed the 18 million mark. More than 11.4 million people have recovered and 690,000 deaths have been reported. |
| 02/08/2020 | South Africa has the fifth highest number of cases in the world after the US, Brazil, Russia and India. South Africa has reported more than half a million cases which accounts for half of all reported infections in Africa. |
| 31/07/2020 | On 29th July 2020 Brazil re-opened international air travel which has been banned since March. This decision was taken even though the country has reported the second-highest number of Covid-19 cases globally, after the United States. The Brazilian government has said that tourists from all countries can travel to Brazil as long as they have health insurance. |
| 30/07/2020 | Australia has reported the highest number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began. The state of Victoria is the worst-hit with outbreaks centered around care homes and workplaces in Melbourne and its suburbs. Internal borders have been closed to help curb the spread of the virus beyond Victoria. |
| 30/07/2020 | Global Covid-19 cases have surpassed 17.1 million and the number of deaths have increased to +670,000. The number of cases in the U.S. have crossed 4.5 million, in Brazil 2.5 million and in India 1.5 million. |
| 29/07/2020 | Chinese airlines are offering ‘all-you-can-fly’ deals aimed at reigniting air travel following coronavirus lockdowns. 8 Chinese airlines have rolled out this promotion which includes buying a pass for a single price that allows customers to fly as much as they want. China’s civil aviation authority announced last week that the number of daily flights had already reached 80% of the pre-crisis level. |
| 28/07/2020 | Vietnam is evacuating 80,000 people from Da Nang after authorities confirmed the first community infections since April. The evacuations of mostly local tourists will take atleast 4 days with domestic airlines operating approximately 100 flights daily from Da Nang to 11 Vietnamese cities. Vietnam is still closed to foreign tourism, but there had been a surge in domestic travelers looking to take advantage of discounted flights and holiday packages to local resorts. |
| 27/07/2020 | More than 16 million Covid-19 casses across the world have now been reported. The actual number of cases globally are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their nations' outbreaks. |
| 26/07/2020 | Spain has recorded its highest daily rise in new coronavirus cases since May, with 971 infections detected in 24 hours last week. The country is reimposing new safety measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Britain and several other European countries have imposed measures to limit travel to Spain. |
| 24/07/2020 | South Africa has become the fifth worst-affected country with Covid-19 cases which have crossed 400,000. Schools have been ordered to shut again until 24th August. However the death toll reported in South Africa stands at 6000 which is a far lower than in other countries that have fewer confirmed cases, like the UK. |
| 23/07/2020 | American Airlines, United Airlines, the Lufthansa Group and the International Airlines Group have written to US and European Union leaders to establish a joint U.S.-EU Covid-19 testing program to facilitate the reopening of transatlantic travel. The airlines have said that resuming U.S.-EU travel is urgent and should be done swiftly for the benefit of the global economy. |
| 22/07/2020 | In less than five days another million Covid-19 cases have been reported globally and cases have now surpassed the 15 million mark with more than 619,000 deaths. 9.1 million patients have recovered and 5.3 million patients are currently infected. Cases in the U.S. have crossed 4 million, followed by Brazil with 2.1 million cases and India with 1.2 million cases. |
| 21/07/2020 | The Government of Vietnam has prohibited any new airlines in the country from starting until 2022. According to the Ministry of Transport, Vietnam has 214 aircraft of which only half are currently being used due to Covid-19. To ensure a sustainable aviation industry the Ministry of Transport wants to restore domestic air transport before looking to the future. |
| 19/07/2020 | The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases with 259,848 new infections in the last 24 hours. Globally cases have surpassed 14.5 million and the biggest increase in cases are from the U.S, Brazil, India and South Africa. Covid-19 cases in Brazil have surpassed 2 million, doubling in less than a month. |
| 18/07/2020 | India is set to resume international passenger flights after almost 4 months of suspension, with the exception of repatriation flights. The Minister of Civil Aviation confirmed the establishment of "air bubbles" between India and the US, UAE, France and Germany whilst similar arrangements are being worked out with several different countries. Airlines from the US, Germany, France and the UAE will be resuming scheduled international flights into India with entrance restricted to Indian nationals and those with Overseas Citizenship of India status. |
| 17/07/2020 | The U.S., Canada and Mexico have agreed to keep their shared borders closed to non-essential traffic until 21st August 2020. The restrictions first issued in March, have been repeatedly extended in 30 day blocks as Covid-19 cases continues to surge in many parts of the U.S. and in Mexico. |
| 16/07/2020 | Covid-19 cases in India are likely to reach 1 million today and the country has seen their highest daily increase with 30,000 new cases and 600 deaths reported on 15th July. Confirmed cases in the country have jumped from half a million to 1 million in less than three weeks. Several Indian state governments have re-imposed lockdowns in selected areas for varying intervals. |
| 15/07/2020 | The U.S. has set a new record with more than 67,000 new cases and 900 deaths reported on 14th July. For the past 10 days, the number of new cases being reported has been between 55,000 and 65,000 every 24 hours. The total number of Covid-19 cases in the U.S. is now almost 3.5 million. |
| 14/07/2020 | Croatia has become the first country in the European Union to re-open its borders for tourists from all counties including the U.S. The EU had previously published a list of only 15 countries where travel restrictions would be lifted from 1st July, which exluded Russia, Brazil and the U.S. However since Croatia is a part of the EU and not the Schengen area, authorities have opened their borders to American tourists and other banned third-country citizens. |
| 13/07/2020 | Intra-Europe air travel has increased over the past week up to Sunday 12th July 2020. Eurocontrol recorded around 91 thousand flights, 37% of the same period in 2019. On average, this was just under 13 thousand flights a day, +1300 more than in the previous week. |
| 13/07/2020 | Globally Covid-19 cases have surpassed 13 million with infections reported in more than 213 countries and territories. The number of recoveries have crossed 7.58 million and the number of deaths have crossed 570,000. The World Health Organization confirmed a record increase in global coronavirus cases with the total rising by 230,370 in 24 hours. |
| 12/07/2020 | During the first half of 2020, the CAAC (China Civil Aviation Administration) has reported that Chinese carriers transported 150 million passengers, 54.2% less than the first half of 2019. Since the month of February which saw the highest traffic decline of -85% by Chinese carriers, the year-on-year growth rate has rebounded month-by-month with -42% traffic decline reported in June. |
| 11/07/2020 | New Covid-19 detection technology has been implemented at Abu Dhabi airport. Etihad Airways is trialling this touchless technology to help screen passengers at Abu Dhabi Airport for Covid-19. The self-service check-in system called ‘Fit to Fly’ has the technology to scan a passenger’s respiratory system, heart rate and temperature. |
| 09/07/2020 | Worldwide Covid-19 cases have surpassed the 12 million mark, surging another million in just 5 days which is the quickest climb for a million new cases since the beginning of the outbreak which has now entered its seventh month. The US accounts for 25% of global cases and has now crossed 3 million. |
| 08/07/2020 | The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged the possibility of airborne transmission as one of the modes of transmission of Covid-19. Members of the WHO technical committee are working on publishing a scientific brief about how and if the coronavirus can spread in the air, following a letter signed by more than 200 scientists from over 30 countries urging them to acknowledge the emerging evidence of airborne spread as cases rise around the world. |
| 07/07/2020 | According to data published by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. air travel over the 4th July holiday weekend was down more than 72% compared to the same holiday weekend in 2019. However, the number of people that passed through U.S. security checkpoints in the first five days of July increased more than 90% compared to the same period in June and more than five times the number recorded during the first five days of April. |
| 06/07/2020 | Worldwide Covid-19 cases have increased by more than half a million over the weekend with India surpassing Russia to become the 3rd worst-hit country in the world. The total number of cases in India is nearing 700,000 with the highest spike of +24,000 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. |
| 03/07/2020 | Worldwide Covid-19 cases have surpassed 11 million today with 525,000 deaths. The 4 countries worst affected are the USA with 2.8 million cases, Brazil with 1.5 million, Russia with 667,000 and India with 628,000. |
| 03/07/2020 | The British government is ending their 14-day quarantine rule for arrivals from more than 50 countries deemed “lower risk” for the coronavirus. The change takes effect from 10th July, just over 1 month after the UK began requiring international arrivals to self-isolate for two weeks. The UK government will also exempt several countries from its advice against overseas travel. |
| 01/07/2020 | Covid-19 cases more than doubled in 14 US states during the month of June. Arizona recorded the biggest jump in cases for the month at 294%, followed by South Carolina at 200% and Arkansas at 179%. Cases also more than doubled in California, Florida, Texas, Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah. Cases increased by less than 10% during the month in only 4 states - New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey. Nationally, cases rose by at least 46% and deaths increased by 21% in June. |
| 30/06/2020 | As of 30th June 2020, T2RL records 166 carriers have restarted their operations, 240 carriers still remain suspended and 15 carriers have permanently ceased operations. |
| 30/06/2020 | The EU has drafted a safe list of 14 countries to allow citizens from those countries to enter the EU from 1st July. The list includes Australia, Canada, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, Thailand, Uruguay, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Georgia, Montenegro and Serbia. The EU is ready to add China only if the Chinese government offers a reciprocal deal for EU travellers. According to the European Commission, UK nationals are to be treated in the same way as EU citizens until the end of the Brexit transition period i.e. end of 2020. |
| 28/06/2020 | Worldwide Covid-19 cases passed the significant 10 million mark today as deaths passed 500,000. Europe, North and South America and Asia have all reported over 2 million cases. Cases within Europe are falling and most European countries are opening their borders with their neighbours. The UK is planning to enable quarantine-free travel to most European countries from July with UK travel companies reporting huge demand for foreign travel. |
| 25/06/2020 | New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have issued a travel advisory that requires people arriving from 8 U.S. states with high coronavirus rates to quarantine for 14 days. Currently those states include Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Utah. US states will be added or taken off the quarantine list depending on the number of new cases per 100,000 people or the rate of positive tests. |
| 25/06/2020 | The epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic is shifting to South America with over 50,000 new cases each day in the continent. The majority of cases are in Brazil, followed by Peru and Chile. |
| 24/06/2020 | As European countries prepare to reopen their borders to international travel, European Commission officials have been working with EU member states on advising which visitors might be considered safe to visit. European Union nations may also block visitors from the United States, in addition to Russia, Brazil and other countries that are deemed too risky because of the spread of the virus. A final decision is expected early next week before the bloc reopens on 1st July. |
| 22/06/2020 | Covid-19 cases worldwide has now crossed 9 million with +470,000 deaths. More than 50% of global cases are reported to have recovered. Brazil has become the second country in the world after the US to confirm more than 1 million cases and +50,000 deaths. |
| 18/06/2020 | More than 1200 flights in and out of 2 major airports in Beijing were cancelled on 17th June as the authorities moved to contain the spread of a possible second wave of coronavirus infections. Before the recent spike in cases, Beijing had gone 57 days without a locally-transmitted case. The new outbreak is believed to have started in the Xinfadi wholesale food market and has forced authorities to announce a travel ban for residents of "medium- or high-risk" areas of the city, while requiring other residents to take nucleic acid tests in order to leave Beijing. |
| 17/06/2020 | Australia's Tourism minister has indicated their international border closure is likely to be extended until early 2021. Australia has been successful in containing the spread of the virus, which it attributes to restrictions on international travel and social-distancing rules. The Australian Federal Government is working on a couple of exceptions to Australia's border closure, including allowing travel between Australia and New Zealand. |
| 17/06/2020 | The US Department of Transport has backed off on a proposed ban against Chinese carriers travelling to the US, approving up to 4 flights per week from mainland China. The order that was due to be in effect from 16th June, was abandoned after China’s Civil Aviation Administration further eased international flight restrictions, allowing more carriers including those from the US to operate flights into the country. |
| 16/06/2020 | The Canada-U.S. border will remain closed to non-essential travel until 21st July. The deal was extended for at least another 30 days to slow the spread of coronavirus as confirmed cases in the US continue to climb past the 2 million mark. Cross-border families will be able to reunite under certain stipulations despite the extension of the closure of the Canada-U.S. border. |
| 15/06/2020 | The number of Covid-19 cases worldwide has crossed 8 million with +435,000 deaths and 4.1 million recovered cases. India has surpassed the UK and is now the 4th country with the highest number of cases globally. |
| 12/06/2020 | New Zealand has now marked three weeks since its last new case of Covid-19, the Ministry of Health has confirmed. The last day that New Zealand reported an active case of Covid-19 was on 22nd May. On 8th June the Health Ministry declared that the final remaining active case in New Zealand had recovered. |
| 12/06/2020 | British Airways, EasyJet and Ryanair have launched legal action against the UK government's quarantine measures, asking for a judicial review to be heard as soon as possible. The airlines have come together to try to end the 14-day quarantine rule for international arrivals which they say will deter travel and threaten more jobs. They want the government to instead readopt the policy introduced on 10th March, which saw passengers from countries deemed at high risk of infection being ordered to self-isolate on arrival in the UK. |
| 11/06/2020 | The EU Commission has recommended partial and gradual lifting of travel restrictions to the EU for third-country citizens starting from 1st July. The majority of the Schengen Area countries have announced they will be reopening their internal borders by 15th June including France, Iceland, Greece and Belgium. |
| 10/06/2020 | There are 9 countries in the world that have successfully controlled Covid-19 so far. These include New Zealand, Iceland, Tanzania, Fiji, Montenegro, Vatican City, Seychelles, Mauritius, and Papua New Guinea. |
| 08/06/2020 | Worldwide cases have crossed the 7 million mark with +405,000 deaths. The USA has surpassed the 2 million mark followed by Brazil (691,758), Russia (467,073), UK (287,621), India (257,486), Spain (241,550), Italy (234,998), Peru (196,515), France (191,102) and Germany (185,750). Regarding fatalities, the UK continues in the 2nd position after the US with 40,625 deaths, which also accounts for the highest number of fatalities in Europe. Other countries with over 10,000 deaths are Brazil, Italy, France, Spain and Mexico. |
| 06/06/2020 | According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) the total number of passengers carried by Chinese airlines on 5th June 2020 crossed 1 million. This was the highest number of passengers carried since 28th January when the Covid-19 travel restrictions began to be introduced. |
| 03/06/2020 | The Trump administration makes a move to block Chinese carriers from the United States. The US Transportation Department said it would suspend passenger flights of 4 Chinese airlines (Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines) to and from the US starting 16th June. The decision was a response to China's failure to let United and Delta resume flights this week to China. The Transportation Department said that China was violating a 1980 agreement between the two countries covering flights by each other's airlines. |
| 01/06/2020 | Worldwide cases have now crossed 6.28 million with +374,000 deaths. The USA accounts for the highest number of cases with over 1.83 million, followed by Brazil with +514,000 and Russia with +414,000. Over the past week confirmed cases in India have risen to +191,000 exceeding France, Germany and Turkey. The number of cases in Peru have also risen to +164,000, exceeding Turkey and Iran. |
| 29/05/2020 | As of 29th May 2020, 63 carriers have re-started their operations after a period of complete suspension and 340 airlines remain suspended. Around 140 carriers have plans to re-start limited operations during the month of June. |
| 29/05/2020 | Domestic air travel in China has now reached more than 50% of 2019 volumes based on issued air tickets, according to data from ForwardKeys; Saudi Arabia has announced the resumption of domestic flights from 31st May; Japan is preparing to begin a phased relaunch of the domestic tourism sector; Bangladesh plans to resume domestic flights from 1st June. |
| 25/05/2020 | Worldwide cases have now crossed 5.5 million with 350,000 deaths. The 10 countries with the highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases are USA, Brazil, Russia, Spain, UK, Italy, France, Germany, Turkey and India. India overtook Iran becoming the 10th country as the number of cases in India has doubled over the past 2 weeks. |
| 23/05/2020 | Latin America has reported more new Covid-19 cases than either the USA or Europe for three consecutive days, driven by increasing cases in Brazil, Peru and Mexico. Brazil has now overtaken Russia and has the second highest number of confirmed cases in the world, according to data from the World Health Organization. |
| 21/05/2020 | Italy is planning to re-open all airports from 3rd June which is the same date the country intends to open all borders; Greece will open the country to tourists from 15th June and most flights to the country will resume by 1st July. |
| 21/05/2020 | The Indian DGCA has announced the resumption of domestic flights in India on Monday 25th May in a calibrated manner, after two months of complete suspension. The Indian government has allowed only one-third of the normal domestic flights to operate and has set limits on fares which will be applicable for three months. There is no indication yet on when scheduled international flights will resume. |
| 20/05/2020 | Colombia has extended their ban on international passenger flights until 31st August; Panama authorities have also extended their international flight suspension until 22nd June; Thailand has extended their ban on inbound international flights until the end of June; Egypt has extended the suspension of all international passenger flights until further notice. |
| 18/05/2020 | Worldwide cases approach 5 million with 300,000 deaths. Infection rates are dropping in most of Europe and lockdown rules are being gradually and locally relaxed, although most countries are closed for tourism. Russia now has most infections in Europe approaching 300,000. Infection rates have stabilised in North America with 100,000 deaths attributed to Covid-19. |
| 10/05/2020 | Worldwide cases exceed 4 million but with Europe and North America seeing a decrease of cases and deaths and start easing lockdown restrictions. Cases and deaths are increasing rapidly however in Russia and Brazil with 10,000 new cases per day. |
| 05/05/2020 | ‘Travel bubbles’ like the one announced by Australia and New Zealand are expected to be one way countries can start to move forward out of the crisis, with certain countries opening their borders to others with low cases in virus numbers. |
| 03/05/2020 | Warren Buffett sells all of his shares in Delta, American, Southwest and United Airlines. The influential billionaire investor said his company, Berkshire Hathaway, has sold all of its shares in the four largest US airlines. Speaking at the annual shareholders' meeting, Mr Buffett said "the world has changed" because of the coronavirus”. The conglomerate had an 11% stake in Delta Air Lines, 10% of American Airlines, 10% of Southwest Airlines, and 9% of United Airlines. More details |
| 01/05/2020 | As the industry grapples with the impact of this pandemic, many leading airlines have announced actual or potential reductions in workforce following the grounding of 2/3 of the global fleet. These include Ryanair, EasyJet, BA , SAS, AA, Norwegian Air, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Air Transat and Lufthansa. Boeing and Airbus have also announced staff cutbacks. More details here |
| 28/04/2020 | Governments further impose and extend coronavirus travel bans. Argentina has placed a ban on all commercial flights until 1st September; Indonesia has banned commercial flights until 1st May; Nepal has extended the suspension of all flights until 15th May; Pakistan has extended the suspension of international flights until 15th May; India's DGCA has directed airlines not to accept any bookings until further notice. |
| 27/04/2020 | Worldwide coronavirus infections reached 3 million with 200,000 deaths. There are 1 Million cases in North America, and 60,000 deaths. UK became the 4th European country to pass 20,000 deaths after Italy, Spain and France. Ireland became the 17th country to record over 1000 deaths due to the virus. |
| 24/04/2020 | United is the first US airline to introduce a compulsory face covering or mask for all flight attendants from 24 April. This has been welcomed by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) who would also like Washington to require all passengers to wear masks. From last Monday all passengers in Canada have been required to wear masks during boarding and flights. Other measures such as not using the middle seats, pausing automatic upgrades and changes to boarding processes have already been implemented by some airlines. |
| 20/04/2020 | France becomes the 3rd European country to exceed 20,000 deaths after Italy and Spain, with official estimates of 1 million cases in the continent. There are signs that the death rate has peaked in Europe. US deaths passed the 40,000 mark, and 750,000 cases. Worldwide there are reported cases and deaths in effectively all countries with the majority of countries facing some form of official lockdown. Over 300 airlines have suspended all operations > Link |
| 16/04/2020 | Emirates is the first airline to trial on-site Covid-19 blood tests for passengers. In conjunction with Dubai Health Authority (DHA) passengers flying from Dubai to Tunisia had a blood test and received the results within 10 minutes. Plans are to scale this further for flights to countries that require Covid-19 test certificates. This comes in the same week as the CEO for Heathrow airport, John Holland-Kaye requests that governments agree a common international standard on medical screening at airports. |
| 15/04/2020 | Ten U.S. carriers have agreed to the terms by the Treasury Department to accept $25 billion in payroll assistance during the coronavirus crisis. The payroll bailout covers Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, United Airlines, SkyWest Airlines and Southwest Airlines. The payroll grants require airlines not to furlough or cut the pay rates of any employees until 30th September 2020. |
| 12/04/2020 | The epicentre of the coronavirus is now shifting to North America where USA now has the highest case count of over 500,000 and over 20,000 deaths surpassing Italy, Spain and France. There are around 30,000 new cases daily, with around 180,000 in New York state. Over 100,000 deaths worldwide are attributed to the pandemic in 2020. |
| 08/04/2020 | Today the 76 day strict travel ban was lifted in Hubai province, China. Wuhan, epicentre of the pandemic, had been sealed off with barriers in the city, preventing movement, but now 11million Wuhan residents are able to travel, if they have a Green QR Code in their smartphone App., signaling a clean bill of health. All temporary coronavirus hospitals have now been closed in Wuhan and 200 flights are scheduled to leave Wuhan on Wednesday carrying 10,000 passengers. |
| 08/04/2020 | France has become the fourth country to register more than 10,000 deaths due to coronavirus after Italy, Spain and USA. Japan declared a state of emergency amid a spike in coronavirus cases. UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in a London NHS Intensive Care Unit with severe symptoms of the disease. |
| 07/04/2020 | IATA has warned that due to three months of severe travel restrictions, as well as lower traffic over 2020, possibly 25million airline jobs worldwide might be at risk as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. IATA reported further that the beginning of the 2nd quarter 2020 has already shown a 70% slump in global air travel. By the end of Q2 2020, $35Billion of tickets will be due for a refund, compounding the financial pressure on airlines. |
| 06/04/2020 | The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued an enforcement notice on 3rd April 2020, warning US and foreign carriers serving the US to issue prompt refunds to passengers for flights cancelled due to Covid-19. This enforcement notice follows a large number of complaints from passengers being denied refunds and being offered travel vouchers or credits instead. |
| 05/04/2020 | The estimated number of Covid-19 cases worldwide has surpassed 1.27 million, with close to 70 thousand deaths. From the total number of known cases, 264 thousand people are believed to have now recovered and current active cases are estimated to be 940 thousand. |
| 04/04/2020 | On Saturday 4th April 2020, China observed a national day of mourning for victims of the coronavirus. Chinese President Xi Jinping led the country in 3 minutes of silence at 10am. Flags across the country and at overseas embassies were flown at half-mast, and all public entertainment was suspended for the day. This is the first time China has held a national day of mourning for a public health crisis. |
| 03/04/2020 | The Singapore government has annouced a new set of measures as a ‘circuit breaker’ against the coronavirus pandemic. From 8th April until 4th May 2020, schools & universities will shift to home-based learning; preschool & student care centres will suspend services; all busines, social & other activities that cannot be conducted from home will be suspended. Only essential services are exempt from this restriction and will continue to operate normally. |
| 02/04/2020 | The estimated number of cases worldwide is now believed to be 1 million, with around 52,000 deaths. Around half the cases are in Europe with 35,000 deaths across the continent this year. Italy and Spain are the worst hit with over 10,000 deaths each equalling over 200 deaths per 1 million of population (0.02%). |
| 01/04/2020 | Several airlines have asked their laid-off employees who have completed medical training to help in hospitals and assist overstretched medical workers cope with the rising number of patients due to this pandemic. |
| 31/03/2020 | As of 31st March 2020, more than 200 airlines globally have temporarily suspended 100% of their operations due to the ongoing border closures and travel restrictions. See them listed here |
| 31/03/2020 | US Transport Security Administration (TSA) reports that total traveller throughput at US airports on 30/03/2020 was just 154,080 travellers, compared to 2,360,053 a year ago, indicating a passenger reduction of over 93% link |
| 30/03/2020 | Worldwide deaths exceed 35,000. A UK Health Official warns that some restrictive measures may need to remain in place for 6 months. The US extended their social distancing guidelines to 30 April and President Trump warns of 100,000 deaths being a favourable outcome. |
| 29/03/2020 | The Civil Aviation Administration of China has directed all Chinese carriers to maintain only one route to any country and limit the number of flights to one per week. China has also now temporarily suspended the entry of all foreigners including residence permit / visa holders. |
| 28/03/2020 | The number of Covid-19 cases worldwide has acrossed 600,000. The United States is the first country to surpass 100,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. |
| 27/03/2020 | The Turkish government has now extended its previous ban from 68 countries to a ban on all international flights to and from Turkey. Also within its national borders, Turkey is only allowing domestic travel with formal permission from local governors. |
| 26/03/2020 | At least 2.6 billion people, over a third of the world’s population, are now subject to some form of movement restriction after India, the world’s second-most populous country after China, joined the long list of countries imposing shutdown measures this week. India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, ordered all 1.3 billion people in the country to remain at their homes for at least three weeks. |
| 26/03/2020 | New York has become the new epicenter for Covid-19 with over 37,000 cases and 385 deaths as of Thursday midday, with the US overtaking China for total cases, 81,300. The Senate has approved a $2 trillion stimulus package. The package is expected to include roughly $100 billion for hospitals; $350 billion for small businesses; $500 billion in aid for corporations, including airlines and cruiselines; and around $150 billion for state and local stimulus funds. |
| 26/03/2020 | Russia has seen its sharpest spike in numbers in the past 24 hours, thus Moscow is closing all restaurants, cafes, bars, shops and parks from March 28 until April 5 for the unprecedented “stay-at-home holidays” announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin. All International flights will cease with the exception repatriation of Russians. |
| 25/03/2020 | Since commercial passenger flights are now grounded across many parts of the world, airlines are now repurposing their aircrafts specifically for cargo operations to boost revenue. Some of these airlines are American Airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa, Delta, Aeromexio, Etihad and Air New Zealand . |
| 24/03/2020 | The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the coronavirus disease pandemic is "accelerating", with more than 400,000 cases now confirmed. It took 67 days from the first reported of Covid-19 to reach 100,000 cases, 11 days for the second 100,000, four days for the third 100,000 and just three days for the forth 100,000. |
| 24/03/2020 | Due to an increasing number of countries closing borders each day, more than 60 airlines globally have now temporarily suspended all their operations whilst many other carriers have suspended all international operations in accordance with government directives. |
| 24/03/2020 | The UAE Government has announced the suspension of all passenger and transit flights from Wednesday 25th March for two weeks. India has suspended all international flights from 22nd March 2020 and all domestic flights from 24th March 2020. Nigeria and Kenya have also suspended all international flights. |
| 23/03/2020 | The UK has joined the majority of Europe and issued a Stay-At-Home order to the entire country. Only vital journeys and minimal exercise is permitted. Shops, schools, libraries, gyms and churches will be closed and gatherings limited to just 2 people. |
| 22/03/2020 | California, USA, residents are put on stay-at-home orders with all bars, restaurants and venues to close. Only essential workers may go to work, and visiting friend or relatives including hospital or care homes is not permitted without urgent need. |
| 20/03/2020 | The Norwegian government has agreed to back airlines with credit guarantees worth £460 million, with 50% for their largest carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle. The British government is also considering a series of measures as part of a multi-billion pound rescue plan for UK airlines.. |
| 19/03/2020 | The Brazilian government announced measures to help airlines; Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, announced the renegotiation of airlines debt. Rescue measures for companies will also be taken by the Ministry of Infrastructure in conjunction with the Ministry of Economy. |
| 19/03/2020 | Australia will close its borders to all except citizens and permanent residents from 9pm Friday 20th March. New Zealand will also lockdown its borders to all except citizens and permanent residents from 11:59pm Thursday 19th March. |
| 18/03/2020 | Nigeria has restricted entry for travellers from the following countries; China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, U.S, UK, Netherlands and Switzerland. These are all countries with over 1,000 cases domestically. This restriction will take effect starting March 20th. |
| 18/03/2020 | President Trump confirmed that the US - Canada border will temporarily close for nonessential travel. The EU has now suspended all travel into the passport-free Schengen zone by non-EU nationals for at least 30 days. |
| 18/03/2020 | Governments offer airlines aid; Governments of Sweden and Denmark annouced they would provide more than 275 million euros in guarantees to protect SAS from the economic impact of the virus. The Swedish government has announced another 3.5 billion kronor in credit guarantees for other airlines. Australia and Taiwan will also offer financial aid to their aviation sectors. U.S. based airlines are also seeking government assistance of more than $50 billion. |
| 17/03/2020 | India has announced a ban on passenger arrivals (including Indian citizens) from the European Union, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Travellers from the EU, Turkey and UK are prohibited from entering India between 18th March and 31st March. This ban follows a recent ban which started on 13th March prohibiting entry for foreign passport holders and Overseas Indian Citizen (OCI) cardholders into the country. |
| 17/03/2020 | UK government advises against all global travel with ‘immediate effect’. The guidance is introduced for 30 days initially to ensure no travellers were stranded abroad, as widespread restrictions are imposed. This ban goes even further than the EU’s move to outlaw international arrivals, which involves travel within the EU and the UK continuing. |
| 17/03/2020 | Worldwide curfews: French citizens are ordered to stay in their homes in near-total lockdown. Canada closes borders to foreigners with only essential flights to just four major cities. UK warns population to avoid all nonessential contact. Holland closes all schools. In the US, Los Angeles followed New York by announcing that bars, restaurants and entertainment venues should shut. Switzerland joins Austria banning public groups over 5 people. |
| 17/03/2020 | The three main airline alliances oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance are jointly calling on governments and stakeholders to take action to alleviate the unprecedented challenges faced by the global airline industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Representing almost 60 airlines they urge governments worldwide to evaluate all possible means to assist the airline industry during this unprecedented period. Link |
| 16/03/2020 | EU chief Ursula Von Der Leyen has proposed a 30 day ban on all non-essential travel to the bloc as part of a joint battle against the coronavirus pandemic. The President of the European Commission proposed shutting borders for a month to stop the spread of the disease, but said it could be prolonged if necessary. |
| 16/03/2020 | IAG (British Airways, Aer Lingus. Iberia, Level and Vueling) announces plans to cut 75% of capacity in April and May. Willie Walsh said “We have seen a substantial decline in bookings across our airlines and global network over the past few weeks and we expect demand to remain weak until well into the summer," |
| 16/03/2020 | Airlines call on governments for emergency funding to survive. Airlines UK, a trade body representing UK-registered airlines is reported to be asking for an immediate £7.5 billion to prevent a wipeout. Delta, American and United Airlines said on Friday there were in talks with the U.S. government about assistance. Lufthansa said it will ask several European governments for liquidity. Norwegian has said it was a matter of weeks before it ran out of cash and is in talks about a bailout. |
| 16/03/2020 | More extreme measures in Europe: Germany has closed its borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark and Luxembourg. Austria has banned gatherings of more than five people. Ireland is asking all pubs to shut. Schools in the Netherlands are closing. |
| 15/03/2020 | Borders are closing: Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic have sealed their borders, applying to land, air and sea traffic, currently until April 13. The Norwegian border will be closed for foreigners from tomorrow, including all airports and seaports. Australia requires all overseas arrivals to self isolate. Ukraine is closed to foreigners. |
| 15/03/2020 | The epicentre of the outbreak has moved to Europe with France and Spain on full lockdown. In Spain people are banned from leaving home except for buying essential supplies and medicines, or for work. In France cafes, restaurants, cinemas, ski resorts and most shops are now shut. Italy has been on lockdown for a week. |
| 14/03/2020 | The US travel ban will be extended to include UK and Ireland starting on Tuesday 17/03/2020 (04:00 GMT), US Vice-President Mike Pence has confirmed. |
| 13/03/2020 | IATA welcomed the announcement by the European Commission granting the temporary suspension until June 2020 of the 80-20 “use it or lose it” rule for airport slots. Previously airlines were required to operate an airport slot for at least 80% of the time and were running wasteful 'ghost' flights to fulfil the obligation. |
| 12/03/2020 | European airline share prices have been further impacted by the US travel ban. Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and IAG all dropped more than 10 per cent in early trading while the stock of heavily indebted Norwegian Air Shuttle plunged more than 30 per cent. IATA has estimated the pandemic could cost airlines worldwide as much as $113bn in revenues this year. |
| 12/03/2020 | President Trump announces USA will bar all travel from 26 European Countries from 14th March, but not including UK and Ireland. It does not apply to US Citizens. |
| 11/03/2020 | Coronavirus is confirmed as pandemic by World Health Organization. WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the number of cases outside China had increased 13-fold in two weeks. He said he was "deeply concerned" by "alarming levels of inaction". |
